Scoopy’s, Week of July 19, 2012

Edwardian movement:Arthur Schwartz reports that Cate Edwards has joined the team at Advocates for Justice, his new progressive law firm. Schwartz, the Village’s Democratic state committeeman, said he also expects Sharon Eubanks will be joining the firm. Eubanks was the lead attorney in the U.S. tobacco litigation that won billions of dollars from the cigarette companies. Schwartz said he’s still holding out hope that Cate’s dad, John Edwards, will be coming onboard. “John hasn’t decided what to do yet,” Schwartz told us. “I do hope he joins us. It would be exciting; he is one of the great lawyers in the U.S., irrespective of his personal issues. I have found him to be very committed to his political beliefs, which are quite progressive. And I was most impressed by how close he was to his kids,” he said, adding, “And I was not a fan in 2008.”

Capsis-clash case: Speaking of Schwartz, he’s representing George Capsis, 84, in his defense against the charge that the WestView publisher, on May 17, slapped a police officer in the face. The altercation occurred after a police van pulled in front of Capsis, who was cycling in the bike lane at Bleecker and Leroy Sts. and, according to the police report, became “highly agitated.” After Capsis’s slap, the officer, who was from the Sixth Police Precinct, struck the senior citizen in the face, giving him a shiner. “The Capsis case is set for trial August 8,” Schwartz told us. “If the district attorney isn’t ready, the judge — who was upset with photos of George’s face on the day of the arrest — will dismiss the case. George may file a claim against the city for assault.”

You’ll find Gogo at Desi Food Truck in Soho Square. The truck has savory offerings, some of which are easily eatable while on the go — such as tortilla-like wraps filled with potatoes, cumin and onions. Their chicken tikka masala doesn’t have a butter-based sauce, so is lighter. Photo by Scoopy

Keep on (food) truckin’: As part of a new program by the Parks Department to have food trucks in select city park locations, the Kelvin Natural Slush Company is selling its refreshing ginger-flavored slushies from its brand new spin-off cart, Ice Cube, every day from 12 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Little Red Square Park, at Bleecker St. and Sixth Ave. Not far away, Desi Food Truck is offering authentic northern Indian culinary creations six days a week at Soho Square, at Spring St. and Sixth Ave. (As Gogo at the Desi truck explained to us, northern Indian food doesn’t have the dairy one finds in southern Indian food — so, we assume, it’s more low-calorie.) Also, Je and Jo’s tricycle cart is selling fresh artisanal ice cream paired with all-natural cookie dough at the Bleecker Playground at Bleecker and W. 11th Sts. A total of seven food vendors have been licensed to park their vehicles or carts in or next to seven green spaces throughout the city year-round for a five-year concession. Other locations included Fort Greene and the Upper West Side and Upper East Side.

No Shaoul shout-out for you! The New York Times’s recent piece on East Village developer Ben Shaoul gave ample citations to sources in the blogosphere but conspicuously avoided mentioning us! In fact, the Times seemed to go out of its way NOT to mention our paper. Referring to Shaoul’s eviction of the residents of The Cave, a loose-knit artists’ squat on St. Mark’s Place, in 2006, the article stated, “A neighborhood photographer snapped Mr. Shaoul, accompanied by sledge hammer- and crowbar-wielding construction workers, as he confronted some of the squatters. At some point the police were called in; the photographs soon circulated around the neighborhood.” Hmm… “circulated around the neighborhood”? Did the photos sort of walk around on their own on Avenue A and display themselves to passersby? No, they were published in The Villager! And how about mentioning the photographer’s name? Bob Arihood! Sheesh! The article must have gone through the Times’s Department of Non-Attribution, which we imagine is something like what one might find in the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s “1984.” At least the Times’s photo department was true to their word after we supplied them with a photo of The Cave eviction for the article, giving Bob’s photo the agreed-upon credit, “Bob Arihood for The Villager.”

Redistricting and reality: Councilmember Margaret Chin insists that her Lower Manhattan District 1 won’t see a major redistricting — though there have been rumors and murmurings that she might lose the N.Y.U. superblocks area or Soho, for example. However, what might possibly happen, she said, is that three housing complexes that she and Councilmember Rosie Mendez share parts of might be unified under one or the other councilmember. Currently, Chin and Mendez split Vladeck Houses and Gouverneur Gardens, two public housing developments, as well East River Houses, a private co-op. Chin said some residents seem to like the current setup, feeling they’re getting “two for one” representation, while others think things would be simpler and more efficient if they just had one councilmember.

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